Robert Edward Auctions has a spring auction going on now. The 1919 Chick Gandil contract with the White Sox is up for auction. (Chick Gandil was the ringleader of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal) What I find interesting about this contract is that its authenticity is guaranteed by Mary Frances Veeck. (Bill Veecks widow) Unless I'm misreading this situation the Veeck family is selling off historical items through this auction. There was another WSI post earlier in the year where somebody said Bill Veeck took most of the TV tapes of White Sox games after he sold the White Sox. The Veeck family denied this. But uness I'm dead wrong on this now, they are starting to sell off some of the items they have. Shouldn't this 1919 Chick Gandil contract be in the HOF?

GoGoCrede

04-20-2012, 10:43 AM

Robert Edward Auctions has a spring auction going on now. The 1919 Chick Gandil contract with the White Sox is up for auction. (Chick Gandil was the ringleader of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal) What I find interesting about this contract is that its authenticity is guaranteed by Mary Frances Veeck. (Bill Veecks widow) Unless I'm misreading this situation the Veeck family is selling off historical items through this auction. There was another WSI post earlier in the year where somebody said Bill Veeck took most of the TV tapes of White Sox games after he sold the White Sox. The Veeck family denied this. But uness I'm dead wrong on this now, they are starting to sell off some of the items they have. Shouldn't this 1919 Chick Gandil contract be in the HOF?

No. It should be on the mantle in my living room. :tongue:

That does seem like something that sounds tailor-made for the HoF. Is there a section there about the Black Sox? I've never been there.

Lip Man 1

04-20-2012, 11:58 AM

Golden:

It was probably me. Sox historian Rich Lindberg has said that the Veeck family took a lot of that stuff claiming that since they owned the team it belonged to them. Lindberg also said that when he did work for the Veeck family he used to see front office members and people in the organization actually 'play' games at Comiskey Park when the team was on the road and wear actual game worn uniforms that the Sox had of people like Nellie Fox and Eddie Stanky! :o:

Mike Veeck denied that the family took historical footage.

Bob Grim the Sox Director of Broadcast Operations told me the Sox have no idea where any of that material is (if it ever existed in the first place.)

The Veeck family 'guaranteeing' Gandil's contract though does make you wonder.

Story along these lines, Mike Veeck was assigned to literally look in every nook and cranny of old Comiskey Park to see what was around in unused store rooms and so forth. He descended into an old elevator shaft that legand said had a body at the bottom of it, he didn't find a body but he did find Shoeless Joe Jackson's 1919 Sox contract!

Lip

TDog

04-21-2012, 03:20 AM

No. It should be on the mantle in my living room. :tongue:

That does seem like something that sounds tailor-made for the HoF. Is there a section there about the Black Sox? I've never been there.

Chick Gandil's contract doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame, unless there is a Black Sox exhibit set up next to a steroids exhibit.

Golden Sox

04-21-2012, 07:52 AM

To the best of my knowledge there are a number of Black Sox items on display at the HOF. Most of them were acquired through former baseball collector Barry Halper. The items were so rare the HOF actually paid Barry Halper for those Black Sox items.(The HOF rarely pays for any of there items that are on display) Also in one of Bill Veecks books (The Hustlers Handbook) Veeck told of items found in Comiskey Park that pertained to the Black Sox scandal. Maybe this 1919 Chick Gandil contract is one of those items.

palehosepub

04-23-2012, 02:08 PM

There was also historical paper files in the later 1970's that "went missing" and started showing up in mmorabilia salles and auctions...

I remember reading an article in a Sports Memorabilia magazine (SCD) about how Bill Veeck sold a whole stash of old Sox uniforms to a Chicago memorabilia dealer who made quite a profit on them over the years... back in the pre auction, pre ebay days ......